Energy debate, policies, and the future

Energy policies have been at the forefront of Australia’s politics in recent years. With many people experiencing blackouts and expensive electric bills. These issues have brought the energy debate to the policy makers and energy producers in Australia. Policy makers have been working on energy reform since the 1990s and continue to work on it today. Current policies are in place that are aimed at making energy more affordable and reliable, yet the issues of power outages and high costs have not been rectified. Proposed policies that follow expert suggestions on how to solve the current issues will bring policy makers, consumers and environmental groups closer to achieving their goals and ending the issues at hand.

The National Energy Law and National Energy Rules are two bodies of regulation that ensure consumer interests are achieved. They place laws and regulations upon the electric sector of the energy industry to ensure compliance as well as achieving what consumers want. The National Gas Law and National Gas Rules are the same as the National Energy Law and Rules only they target the gas industry in Australia. Both regulatory bodies require these industries to meet set guidelines in reporting, consumption and forecasted expenditures. They also work with the Australian Energy Regulator to approve tariffs on both electric and gas networks.

Recent energy plan leaves many wanting more from it

The plan will continue to allow energy producers to use non-renewable sources

The plan aims to decrease consumer costs while making energy more reliable

Consumers and environmentalists say energy needs to make the switch to renewable sources

The energy debate continues as policy makers, consumers and producers work towards a policy that meets country’s needs

Recently the Prime Minister released his energy plan to the public. The National Energy Guarantee has set goals to make energy more affordable and reliable. Many do not agree with this plan as it still allows energy companies to use non-renewable sources such as coal and batteries. The government was given a proposed plan by scientists that would make energy producers use renewable energy instead of non-renewable sources. The plan was rejected and the National Energy Guarantee was used instead in hopes to not only make energy more affordable and reliable, but to less emissions from energy producers. With this plan, it is expected that consumers will see a decrease in their energy bills by an annual decrease of 110AUD over a 10-year period.

Energy policies are aimed at making energy sources more reliable and affordable. Consumers and environmental groups want to make the switch from non-renewable sources to renewable ones. Policy makers are doing their best to ensure that the demands of consumers are met by introducing and subsequently passing policies to do just that. Current policies set guidelines for energy producers that require minimum usage of non-renewable sources, forecasted expenditures and approval of tariffs. Many argue that this is not enough while policymakers believe that these polices, given time, will achieve what consumers and environmental groups want to have achieved. Energy has been a debate for decades and will continue to be at the forefront of discussion for many years to come.